The Bossy Quilter

Friday, August 2, 2013

A friend of mine from when I was in high school is having a baby boy -- his first child. I wanted to make him something special -- something I would love too. I am much better at girl quilts. I have five boys, and our house is filled with girly quilts. So I was a little worried about whether I had the necessary boyish fabrics to make the perfect quilt. I have to say, I feel successful. I LOVE this quilt.

I used the backing fabrics as my guide and just pulled fabrics from my stash in those colors. I could not be happier with the result.

I'm kind of wishing I had more of these fabrics so I could make a throw-sized one of these babies. I hope my friend and his wife like it. (Otherwise, I'll ask for it back . . . just kidding, mostly.)

Thursday, August 1, 2013

This is one of those shameful WIPs that have been sitting around FORever, quilted but unbound. The center is all that was left over from this quilt -- first round of ORB quilt-alongs.

I was afraid of the scalloped edge. I wasn't quite sure how I wanted it to look. And I was quite sure I was going to mess it up. Yesterday, I bit the bullet and just did it. It was an easy one to get off my list. I don't love it. The corners are too tight. I should have made a rounder scallop. I'm wishing I had done a little more on the long sides. Now I'm even wishing I had interspersed some of the border fabric with the squares and made it look like the squares were breaking out of the box. (Sigh) However, it's done. And it's off my list. And it will snuggle a sweet baby girl very nicely.

I can't even remember what fabric line this backing is from. I think it was an old Robin Pandolph line, but I can't even recall. It's just what was left of whatever fabrics I used for the front (and the other quilt). Three cheers for a WIP that is no longer hanging over my head!!

Wednesday, July 31, 2013

I noticed this after I put this as my blog header. Two circles in from the right (my right as I'm looking at it) there is a place that is UNQUILTED. Lime green with white polka dots next to pink with white squarish polka dots. How did I miss this? Not just the quilting, but then afterwards as I was photographing it!

Friday, July 26, 2013

YEARS ago I made this top when Amanda Jean made hers. (Tutorial here.) I know. I know. I reference her a lot. I made A LOT of her quilts in the past, and I am now getting around to finishing them. It's just how it's going to go.

You can see that I made some cutting mistakes -- trying to be fast and cutting two at once. I originally started as a garment seamstress (amateur only, of course), so cutting things out with right sides together is my default. This method, of course, does NOT work when making whirligig blocks. That's just a little tip from me to you.

You get them going in opposite directions. So I made more than I had originally planned, ran a white border around three sides and put the opposite blocks around the outside.

I suppose if I never point these things out, they might go unnoticed, but this isn't the first time. THIS is the first time I messed these up. (Success stories here and here.)

Jumbled up, can't see the mistakes.

Santorini print on the back.

Momo's It's a Hoot green dot for the binding again. Perfect. This quilt is one that my oldest daughter will be taking to college with her in a month. Finished EARLY! What?! Motivation, I guess.

Linking up with Amanda Jean's Finish It Up Friday. Thanks for stopping by. Maybe next week I'll show you some UNfinished projects. We know have a ton of those . . . In the meantime, happy quilting!

Wednesday, July 17, 2013

I made one of these before with leftovers from an as yet unfinished quilt. There were enough leftovers to make two sweet baby quilts. The fabric is Summer Song by My Mind's Eye for Riley Blake (with a few random things from my stash thrown in).

A Pezzy back (and a boy's silhouette).

Binding is from Momo's It's a Hoot. I love this dot in all colors. I recently found some at my LQS. I bought it in the green and the blue. Oh, and the gray. I have already bound another quilt in the green, and I used the blue and green for the back of another quilt. It is just perfect as a binding. I think I have enough to bind one more big quilt with it. And then maybe I'll have to go buy more.

I just quilted it with an all-over stipple in the interest of gittin' 'er done. Finished quilt is 36" x 45" -- perfect baby-snuggling size.

I will be linking up with Amanda Jean's Finish it up Friday when Friday rolls around. Happy Quilting!

Friday, July 12, 2013

A few years ago, Ashley made a quilt like this with Flea Market Fancy. I loved her colors, so I tried to mimic hers here. Mine quilt is a little brighter than her soft color palette, but I still like the effect. Again, I have a crazy wash of color.

(One boy is shorter than the other.)

I used scrap strips for the front, so I didn't have much of anything left to go on the back.

Friday, July 5, 2013

This quilt is from Amanda Jean's Running in Circles quilt. I've decided I need some white or some kind of rest for your eye. Sometimes I can't tell how it's going to turn out until I actually see it. I do like quilts where there's just a wash of colors, but this one might be too busy. I can't tell.

Busy or not, I still like it.

Pieced back.

Spiral quilting in the circles, tiny stippling around it.

The colors look more pastel (and really, truer) here in these pictures -- more sunlight, guess.

I made the binding for this weeks ago, and it has just been sitting around waiting for me to have a spare moment. And there it was this morning. I'm not sure if I'm keeping this or sending it to my niece. When she was a baby, I did not send her a quilt (long-ish story, bad time in my life), so now that she's three or so, maybe she needs a big-girl quilt. But first, I have to finish the one for her new baby sister that's coming this fall. The list goes on and on. And on. Happy Quilting!